Woman faces felony fraud, identity theft charges

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Melissa Ann Remington, 27, faces six counts of identity theft for financial gain; 10 counts of forgery/fraud; and one count of uttering a forgery (failed attempt), according to the complaint filed in Pierce County Aug. 15.

Remington has been summoned to appear in court Monday, Sept. 8.

All the counts qualify as a Class H Felony, and if convicted, the woman faces a maximum punishment of a $10,000 fine or six years in jail for each of them.

Remington is accused of using a stolen credit card for six transactions made at Kwik Trip, Domino’s and Subway in River Falls and passing forged checks at Kwik Trip and Holiday stores in River Falls.

The complaint includes lists from the two victims of what checks were written and what credit-card transactions took place. It lists 15 total checks that add up to about $709 and 14 credit-card charges that total $2,800.

Remington claims she got the checks from Jayne Buckley and Travis Rowan, when she allegedly broke into the check-victim’s house in order to steal them. Police first found the stolen credit cards in Remington’s purse after arresting her for outstanding warrants in St. Croix County and Washington County, Minn. In the complaint, the card victim states that she and Remington used to be friends.

All the credit-card charges except one were made on the same day, March 25. The stolen checks bear dates ranging from the last week in April to the first week in June.

Remington denied responsibility for the bigger credit card — $629 to Verizon Wireless, $668 to Target, about $500 to Maurice’s clothes store in Hudson, $409 to TJ Maxx and almost $100 to Famous Footwear.

She told police that Buckley is responsible for the bigger charges outside River Falls. Buckley later told Minnesota authorities that Remington charged the big totals.

According to the complaint and to video surveillance-camera images, Buckley accompanied Remington on at least one occasion when she passed one of the stolen checks at a River Falls Subway. The complaint says Buckley’s probation and parole agent issued an “apprehension request” for her after watching surveillance footage and hearing other details of the case.

Though the complaint lists Remington’s address as Stillwater, Minn., in it she claims to have no permanent address but said she stays with her mother in a River Falls apartment and uses a local post office box address here.

It says an unauthorized person attempted to change the billing address for the stolen credit card to a post office box in River Falls.

Tags: identity, theft, ri er, falls, debbie, griffin